Recipient | Gold Award

Cornelius 'Niall' Healy MCIAT

for outstanding services to the Greater London Region

Niall became involved with the Greater London Region when he was elected Chair in 2013. Since then, he has become an integral part of the Greater London Regional Committee, bringing both energy and vision, as Chair and Educational Officer. Niall, along with the Head of Membership, visits all the CIAT Accredited programmes at universities across London. As a working professional, he explains the role of CIAT to students, encouraging them to join the Institute as student members and to engage with aspiration, where they have the opportunity to socialise and meet like-minded people. He does this with such enthusiasm, that no one attendee wondered why one would want to become an architect and not an Architectural Technologist?

Following an opportunity to join the academic team of an Accredited Architectural Technology degree programme at a local university, Niall thought that it would be of great benefit for the work of the students to be acknowledged at the end of their studies. All five universities nominate students who have excelled during the second and third years of their studies. Over 250 students have now been involved in the awards since their establishment. What was a small idea has now become an important yearly event in the Greater London Region social calendar. As a result, the awareness of the Institute has been raised, especially amongst students starting out in their careers as future ambassadors of the profession and CIAT.

The preparation of the Greater London Regional Student Awards has evolved over the past number of years, with Niall ensuring they ran online during the 2020 COVID lockdown with each university being presented separately. Today, the event is one large celebration, hosted by Niall, with the support of then President or their representative, with all five universities coming together for one evening at the award ceremony. Head lecturers, tutors, students, friends and family, and potential employers gather to celebrate their work and success.

Each year, Niall leads on the preparation for these awards with support from members of the Greater London Regional Committee, liaising well in advance with Heads of the AT programmes, gathers names of nominees and winners, organises the venue, refreshments, audio, awards and presenters. The award presented to the winners and highly commended students has also evolved. Developed by a ceramic artist specifically for the awards, the bespoke handcrafted object represents a lifetime of learning ahead and are highly valued by the recipients. The Greater London Region Student Awards have become a template for other Regions to use to create a similar event.

Niall sits on Professional Interview Panels to support Central Office. He also represents CIAT at large events such as Clerkenwell Design Week, Future Build and the Ideal Home Exhibition, informing attendees of the benefits of engaging with a CIAT professional. He also chairs and partakes in discussing issues with other CIAT professionals to provoke discussion with the audience in such environments, wearing his CIAT badge and tie with pride.

His energy and enthusiasm for Architectural Technology and CIAT are infectious. Consequently, he has been asked by potential members to mentor them in their application for membership.

As an individual, his patient, empathic nature and dancing is appreciated by those who meet him.

The work Niall has undertaken to raise the profile of CIAT, especially within the student environment, is highly commendable and worthy of recognition.